Chewy Gooey Butterfinger Cookies

Chewy Gooey Butterfinger Cookies

These were super simple to make and my husband said they are now one of his most favorite cookies! For the recipe Click Here! 

LIttle Green Army Men Baby Boy Shower

         My sister-in-Law is about to have her 3rd child...The first 2 were girls and they tried one more time for a boy and guess what...That's what they got! She wanted a LIttle Green Army Men themed shower with army camo as well...This is what she got!...

 Active Duty Cupcakes, Grenades, Spare Tires, and Commander Cookies...

...Landing Pads (Circle pretzel, Melted hershey kiss, and Peanut Butter M&M), and Camo Corn. Click Here for Camo Corn Recipe. 

 Mommy's Major Hunk!  

Cookies in a jar as individual favors...Recipe

 Army Juice                                             Everybody who celebrated!

 

Bulldog Problems! :)

Hank is only 5 1/2 months and my husband and I decided to take him up to Monterey with us to visit family and for my sisters wedding! Sadie my 8 year old pitbull does not care for the car ride all that much! I wasn't sure how Hank was going to do but...He loved it! On our way home he climbed in the drivers seat and...

Well, He couldn't Hang!

My Sisters Wedding

It's a rare occasion when we get 80 degree weather in Pebble Beach but the day of my sisters wedding, thats exactly what she got! It was a gorgeous classy wedding! 

18th Hole on the Pebble Beach Green

 Bags she made for each of the bridesmaids!

 Ever since we were little she LOVED Elvis! It's also a rare occasion when the King rises from the dead...But he did for her Wedding! :)

 He performed 2 different sets. One in his younger days and one in his white jumpsuit! 

 He rocked the house to say the least!

 Centerpieces

 Favors...with a heart shaped French Macaroon in it!

Thanksgiving & Fall Wreath

The crazy thing about Thanksgiving is how quickly it goes by after Halloween! It seems like we jump right into Christmas! I saw this beautiful burlap wreath (here) that can be used for fall. Hmmm, so fall can be maybe August and September but here is San Diego we dont really see the season Fall because in September it's about 80 degrees still. Then after September jumps into Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then winter. Well what we Southern California people call winter :)

So right away I though since I cant really use it as a Fall wreath it would make a great Thanksgiving wreath! The burlap garment was the hardest thing for me to find! The other things I bought at Michael's. I saw this foam "Happy Thanksgiving" sign and then the wheels started turning! I can use that to make my wreath more "Thanksgiving-ish"I used the tutorial from the link above and I'm not gonna lie its tough to work with that burlap! Once I finally got it covered with the burlap and added my little fall-ish decorations, it was onto the sign! I didn't want to glue the sign on there because, if for some crazy reason, we move from Southern California I might just get to use the wreath for Fall! Duh, pipe cleaners! I taped half a pipe cleaner to each side of the sign and then attached it to the wreath! This way I can use it for Fall and then attach the sign for Thanksgiving! I was a little worried how this wreath was going to turn out but I am very pleased the way it did!

Personalized Mickey And Minnie Mouse Ornaments

For all the Disney lovers these are great gifts! 

My sister is getting married November 3rd and we both love Disney and Disneyland soo much! For her bachelorette we spent the day at Disneyland! I wanted to make her something for Christmas that involved her wedding and Bachelorette. I was one of these minnie ornaments on pinterest and got some great ideas for her gift!

I used ideas from a couple different places and a few of my own, combined them together to get this...

I used the idea for making the inside of the ornament sparkly. Click Here

Then, I used the genius idea to make puff balls the ears and rhinestones as Minnies polka dots. Click Here

Then, I threw my own twist in on the bow and the lettering. Give me a couple more days and then I'll have the Mickey one done for the Mr. 

These would also be cute for a baby's first Christmas!

I love them so much I'm going to make myself and husband one too since it will be our First Christmas as a married couple too! :)

MICKEY MOUSE

Mickey Mouse Ornament is done!! They're pretty much the same as the Minnie Mouse but instead of polka dot rhinestones I used a Q-tip to paint on his white buttons and changed up the ribbon it hangs on! I absolutely love the way these turned out!

Halloween Ghost Wreath

I was a little unsure when I first started making this how it would turn out...but I love it! You can choose to make one with whatever color ribbons you'd like! I think a purple and black one with a witch theme would be super cute too! I didn't take pictures as I was making it so It will be tough for me to describe how I made it but I followed directions from this website...http://blog.mardigrasoutlet.com/2011/08/halloween-wreath-with-deco-mesh-video.html

Materials:

1. Orange Thick Tulle Ribbon...I chose one that had a little sparkle in it!  (From Michaels in Thanksgiving section)

2. Black Pipe Cleaners

   3. Black Sparkle Ribbon 

4. White Letters (Already made from Michaels)

5. A Wood Ghost I painted with White paint and black eyes

6. Wire wreath

Lo-Cal Refreshing Watermelon Cocktail

This was great for a hot evening! So refreshing!

Watermelon Vodka, Sprite Zero, and a splash of Cranberry!

Bulldog Sucking Thumb?!?...

Does this picture not look like he's sucking his thumb!?!? Too Cute!

Healthier Side to Pizza Rolls

HomeMade Pizza Rolls

My husband loves the frozen pizza rolls from the grocery! However, they're so bad for you! I tried to make a healthier side to them!! He loved them and couldn't even tell I used a couple healthier alternatives!

I used Pillsbury Frozen Pizza Crust (But a Wheat Crust would make it even more healthier) and rolled it out and used a pizza cutter to divide it into squares. I then put 2 slices of Turkey Pepperoni on each square and as much lowfat shredded mozzarella cheese as I could fit. Next time I make these I'm going to use cubed cheese that way you use more cheese but it takes up less space for when you ball them up!

I took the four corners and brought them together to make balls. Placed them in a baking pan lightly sprayed with oil to prevent from sticking. I then painted them with olive oil and sprinkled them with garlic powder,  italian seasoning, and grated Parmesan Cheese! Set the oven to 400 degrees and let them bake for about 25 mins or until golden brown on the top!

Serve Warm with a side of either pizza sauce or marinara sauce whichever you prefer! I haven't tried actually putting the sauce in them but I'm going to try that next time so I will let you all know how it worked :)

Easy Monday Night Shrimp Dinner

Shrimp, Butter, Lemon,  Garlic Pepper, and a sprinkle of Cajun Spice!

Throw it in the oven on 350 for 20 mins or until pink!

Medicine Organization

I got so tired of having medicine everywhere (medicine cabinet, underneath the sink, in drawers) I went to target a bought a plastic tupperware w/ 3 drawers! I would've bought one with 4 but it wouldn't fit under the bathroom sink. I labeled them and put every medicine around the house in it...this way its a one stop shop! Everyone knows where to go when they need it!

Healthier Italian Stuffed Shells

So, I found a recipe for Italian stuffed shells and then I looked at the nutrition facts...because we are trying to eat better in our household I thought I would try to make the recipe a little healthier and see how it tasted! In my husbands and I's opinion it was delicious! It makes more filling than needed but I just froze the extra and then next time all I have to do is boil the shells and bake!

Instead of Ground Beef and sausage I used Ground Turkey which shaved off about 1,000 calories right there! I used low fat Ricotta cheese and instead of bread crumbs I used Panko and seasoned it with some Italian Seasonings!

                                                              1 lb Ground Turkey

                                                              1 lg. onion, chopped
                                                              1 clove garlic, minced
                                                              3 cups Mozzarella Cheese
                                                              1 container Low Fat Ricotta cheese
                                                             1/2 cup Italian seasoned Panko 
                                                             1/4 cup chopped parsley
                                                               1 egg, lightly beaten
                                                             18 jumbo pasta shells (cooked until almost tender)
                                                               2 jars (15 1/2 oz each) Spaghetti Sauce
                                                              1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup dry red wine

       salt and pepper, to taste 

In a large skillet, brown turkey (Make sure you use olive oil on the pan because the turkey does stick to the pan w/out it.) Add onion and garlic, sauté until onion is tender. Drain (there might not be anything to drain b/c the turkey has barely any fat.)

Stir in Mozzarella cheese, panko, parsley, egg, salt, pepper and Ricotta cheese. Stuff Shells with this mixture. Spoon 1/4 of the spaghetti sauce over bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. I like to overstuff them if you cant tell ;)

Arrange stuffed shells on top of sauce. Blend wine with remaining sauce. Pour over shells. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Bake at 400°F for (20-25 minutes) or until bubbling

I went light on the tomato sauce just because I was trying to cut down the calories but feel free to pour that sauce on!! It's Sooo good!